‰ NOW 30 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM AUGUST 2019 QST PAGE 38 ‰ EXCEPT PERHAPS FOR DISTANCE BECAUSE 630 METER SIGNALS PENETRATE HIGHER INTO THE IONOSPHERE THAN 2200 METER SIGNALS, RESULTING IN LONGER DISTANCES. SECOND, NDBS PROVIDE INFORMATION FOR LOWER FREQUENCIES LIKE THE HF BEACON NETWORK DOES FOR HIGHER FREQUENCIES. BOTH SYSTEMS REPEATEDLY TRANSMIT CW MESSAGES IN CERTAIN SEQUENCES FROM FIXED LOCATIONS AT PUBLISHED POWER LEVELS ON A 24/7 BASIS. HEARING AN HF BEACON MEANS SOME LEVEL OF PROPAGATION EXISTS BETWEEN YOU AND ITS LOCATION THE SAME GOES FOR HEARING AN NDB STATION. HOW WELL YOU HEAR THEIR SIGNALS GIVES YOU A SENSE OF THE PROBABILITY OF MAKING CONTACTS ALONG THE SHARED PATH. SO, WHETHER ON 20, 630, OR PERHAPS EVEN 2200 METERS, EACH SYSTEMS INFORMATION CAN BE USEFUL. THIRD, JUST AS CONTESTERS AND OTHERS USE SOFTWARE PROPAGATION MODELS TO MAKE HF OPERATING MORE ENJOYABLE, REAL TIME NDB DATA CAN ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE TWO NEW BANDS AS WELL. NO PROVEN PROPAGATION MODELS EXIST YET FOR AMATEUR OPERATION AT 630 AND 2200 METERS. HOWEVER, WITH IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS TOOLS, ITS JUST A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL THE WIZARDS AMONG US DEVELOP USER FRIENDLY PROPAGATION MODELS. PERHAPS THE ‰ END OF 30 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ